The Domestication of Transcendence: How Modern Thinking about God Went Wrong

Front Cover
Westminster John Knox Press, Jan 1, 1996 - Religion - 222 pages

William Placher looks at "classical" Christian theology (Thomas Aquinas, John Calvin, Martin Luther) and contrasts it with the Christian discourse about God that evolved in the seventeenth century. In particular, he deals with the notion of transcendence that gained prominence in this era and its impact on modern theology and modern thinking today. He persuasively argues that useful lessons can be drawn from premodern thinking about God, especially when viewed within the context of contemporary objections to it. This reexamination, according to Placher, has practical and profound implications for modern theology.

 

Contents

Aquinas on the Unknowable
27
21
42
Calvins Rhetoric of Faith
52
The Domestication of
71
The Domestication of Grace
88
Nearer Than We Are to Ourselves
111
Grace and Works in Modern Thought
161
The Image of the Invisible
181
Evil and Divine Transcendence
201
Index
217
Copyright

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About the author (1996)

William C. Placher is Professor of Philosophy and Religion at Wabash College, Crawfordsville, Indiana.

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